The Cash Box Kings reanimate that moment when popular music — both black and white — began to coalesce into the rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic. It’s loud music, fun music, occasionally delving into darker themes, but possessing an impetuous, undeniable rhythm.

For many of the most familiar names in blues music, their careers began in the church: Stars like B.B. King, Etta James and James Brown debuted as youngsters performing gospel music. For Lurrie Bell, the journey went in reverse.

This begins, as most blues albums do, with a stamping rhythm and this heartfelt lyric in celebration of a bunch of stuff that’s not good for you. Only then, that chewed-clean template is joined by these bright blasts of shiny brass newness.

Like an aging boxer making an heroic late-round stand, James “Superharp” Cotton brilliantly tangles on a timeless favorite from his 1960s tenure with Vanguard, giving fellow harp master Billy Branch all he can handle.

Buddy Guy is a finger-licking wonder on the forthcoming 2-CD Chicago Blues: A Living History; The (R)evolution Continues, an old-blues-meets-new-blues set scheduled for a release on June 7 by Megaforce/RED.

by Nick DeRiso With “Grinding Man,” a rollicking rapscallion highlight from his Grammy nominated album with Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, we get a winking glimpse into how 97-year-old Pinetop Perkins has kept himself going all these years.